Biopolymers articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The treatment of hypertrophic scar (HS) is hindered by the low bioavailability of drugs and the pathological microenvironment. Here the authors report a separating microneedle drug delivery system responsive to high reactive oxygen species levels and overexpression of matrix metalloproteinases to remodel the pathological microenvironment for HS treatment.

    • Zhuo-Ran Yang
    • , Huinan Suo
    •  & Jintao Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Achieving organoleptic properties of conventional meat is important for cultured meat production. Here, the authors demonstrate that the texture, flavor, and nutritional content of cultured meat can be significantly enhanced by regulating cell differentiation inside hydrogel scaffolds.

    • Milae Lee
    • , Sohyeon Park
    •  & Jinkee Hong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sufficient supply of sulfonate group donor is critical to biomanufacturing of the sulfate containing compounds. Here, the authors engineer two sulfonate group donor regeneration systems, including 3'-phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphosulfate and the newly discovered 5'-phosphosulfate, to boost biosynthesis of sulfated compounds.

    • Ruirui Xu
    • , Weijao Zhang
    •  & Zhen Kang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metal-based heterogeneous catalysts are widely employed in ring-opening polymerization (ROP) but up to now the exploration of metal-organic frameworks (MOF) as catalysts in ROP remains underdeveloped. Here, the authors report a MOF heterogeneous catalytic system for fast, controllable, air- and moisture-insensitive ring-opening polymerization of α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides, and its seamless integration with hybrid material preparation.

    • Ying Liu
    • , Zhongwu Ren
    •  & Yugang Bai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Manipulating the internal interactions within biological fibers to tune macroscopic properties is important but challenging, and can limit applications. Here, the authors report the use of dynamic imine chemistry for engineering molecular interactions and forming strong and tough protein fibers.

    • Jing Sun
    • , Haonan He
    •  & Kai Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Natural proteins exhibit rich structural diversity based on the folds of an invariably linear chain. Here the authors design a single-domain GFP catenane as the counterpart of conventional linear GFP with enhanced thermal resilience and to provide a robust scaffold for making fusion protein catenanes.

    • Zhiyu Qu
    • , Jing Fang
    •  & Wen-Bin Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biomolecular condensates with internal structure allow cells to further organise their processes. In this work the authors investigate how condensates can obtain an internal structure with droplets of dilute phase inside via kinetic, rather than purely thermodynamic driving forces.

    • Nadia A. Erkamp
    • , Tomas Sneideris
    •  & Tuomas P. J. Knowles

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Protein corona formation on nanoparticles and the resultant effects on cellular interactions is well documented, where less is known about the fate of the corona in the cell. Here, the authors track the protein corona and nanoparticles in cells and describe the separation and different processing within different cellular compartments.

    • Shen Han
    • , Richard da Costa Marques
    •  & Ingo Lieberwirth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Water is a standing challenge in the chemical modification of cellulose nanofibrils. Here, authors employ oxime-ligation to solve this by direct covalent chemistry on dialdehyde-CNF in water and assess the material for potential applications in green electronics and triboelectric nanogenerators.

    • Elena Subbotina
    • , Farsa Ram
    •  & Peter Olsén

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During mercerization, cellulose undergoes a conversion from form I to form II which involves change of the direction of every other cellulose chain but a clear understanding of how this change happens is lacking. Here, the authors use neutron diffraction on deuterium labelled cellulose to demonstrate that chains fold back on themselves in a zigzag pattern to form crystalline anti-parallel domains.

    • Daisuke Sawada
    • , Yoshiharu Nishiyama
    •  & Paul Langan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Difficulty with purification, structural heterogenicity, and limited water solubility of β-glucans has significantly limited their therapeutic applications. Here, the authors report the synthesis of (1→6)-β-glucose-branched poly-amido-saccharides as glycan-mimetics and demonstrate macrophage stimulation and polarization.

    • Ruiqing Xiao
    • , Jialiu Zeng
    •  & Mark W. Grinstaff

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Signal processing for downstream functional and morphological adaptations is crucial for understanding and re-enacting features of living systems. Here, the authors show DNAzyme-containing, metabolic protocells that induce prototissue formation via chemical messenger communication due to in situ cleavage of upstream DNA signals.

    • Avik Samanta
    • , Maximilian Hörner
    •  & Andreas Walther

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Encapsulation of bioactive peptides in slow-release particles is complex and relies on organic solvents. Here, the authors absorb peptides in a polymer phase from water, creating a simple low-cost encapsulation process in a class of polymer depot.

    • Morgan B. Giles
    • , Justin K. Y. Hong
    •  & Steven P. Schwendeman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The non-degradability of vinyl polymers has long limited their use in biomedical applications. In this article, the authors demonstrate a system based on acrylamide and cyclic ketene acetals to obtain copolymers with faster degradation rates for potential drug release and environmental applications.

    • Amaury Bossion
    • , Chen Zhu
    •  & Julien Nicolas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors characterize the gut microbiome fermentation properties and therapeutic potential of chemically diverse synthetic glycans (SGs), showing they promote specific shifts in taxonomic and metabolite profiles, and exhibit therapeutic benefits in mouse models of colonic inflammation, together implying SGs as a potential avenue to treat disease by modulating the composition and metabolites produced by the gut microbiome.

    • Andrew C. Tolonen
    • , Nicholas Beauchemin
    •  & Johan E. T. van Hylckama Vlieg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials often suffer from poor processability because of their crystalline or cross-linked nature. Here, the authors demonstrate phosphorescence in a processable cellulose derivative by introducing cationic groups such as imidazolium cations which are able to promote intersystem crossing and to form hydrogen bonds, inhibiting non-radiative transitions.

    • Xin Zhang
    • , Yaohui Cheng
    •  & Jun Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The plant biomass is a composite formed by a variety of polysaccharides and an aromatic polymer named lignin. Here, the authors use solid-state NMR spectroscopy to unveil the carbohydrate-aromatic interface that leads to the variable architecture of lignocellulose biomaterials.

    • Alex Kirui
    • , Wancheng Zhao
    •  & Tuo Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Engineering shape memory and morphing materials achieved considerable progress in polymer-based systems, but protein-based shape memory and morphing materials remain less investigated. Here, the authors report the engineering of protein-based shape memory and morphing hydrogels using protein folding-unfolding as a general mechanism to trigger shape morphing in protein-bilayer structures.

    • Qingyuan Bian
    • , Linglan Fu
    •  & Hongbin Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synthetic mimics of glycoproteins and proteoglycans have wide applications in biomedicine, yet preparation has been challenged by their high grafting and glycosylation densities. Here the authors show one-pot dual-catalysis polymerization of glycan-bearing α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides to form glycopolypeptide brushes.

    • Zachary S. Clauss
    • , Casia L. Wardzala
    •  & Jessica R. Kramer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antibiotic resistance is a major issue in medicine and new antimicrobials for treating resistant infection are needed. Here, the authors report on antibacterial peptoid polymers, prepared via NNCA ring-opening polymerization, demonstrating antibacterial function against MRSA in vitro and in in vivo infection models.

    • Jiayang Xie
    • , Min Zhou
    •  & Runhui Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synthetic polypeptides are biomimetic materials that are commonly prepared by ring-opening polymerization of amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides (NCAs), but the methods for NCA synthesis usually require anhydrous and air-free conditions. Here, the authors report a method for the synthesis of NCAs under atmospheric conditions and room temperature, based on the use of epoxides as acid scavengers.

    • Zi-You Tian
    • , Zhengchu Zhang
    •  & Hua Lu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors engineer microbial production of muscle titin fibers with highly desirable mechanical properties and provide structural analyses that explain the molecular mechanisms underlying high performance of this polymer with potential uses in biomedicine and textile industries, among others.

    • Christopher H. Bowen
    • , Cameron J. Sargent
    •  & Fuzhong Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Developing molecules that emulate the properties of naturally occurring ice-binding proteins (IBPs) is a daunting challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate the use of phage display for the identification of short peptide mimics of IBPs, which resulted in the identification of a cyclic ice-binding peptide containing just 14 amino acids.

    • Corey A. Stevens
    • , Fabienne Bachtiger
    •  & Harm-Anton Klok

  • Article
    | Open Access

    3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3HP) is an important platform chemical. Here, the authors engineer Halomonas bluephagenesis by deleting newly identified degradation pathway and balancing redox state to achieve high level production of 3HP and its copolymer under open and unsterile conditions.

    • Xiao-Ran Jiang
    • , Xu Yan
    •  & Guo-Qiang Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The structural programmability and functionality of peptide materials can be leverage for various next-generation devices such as non-volatile memories. The authors report a proton-coupled mechanism in tyrosine-rich peptides for realizing multimodal memory devices.

    • Min-Kyu Song
    • , Seok Daniel Namgung
    •  & Jang-Yeon Kwon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is known the β-sheet structures in silk-inspired materials generate increased mechanical properties. Here, the authors report on a method of creating silk-inspired materials using in situ formation of β-sheets in an amorphous polymer to replicate the structure of silk and increase the mechanical properties.

    • Nicholas Jun-An Chan
    • , Dunyin Gu
    •  & Greg G. Qiao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bio‐based compounds often suffer from high production cost and low performance when used to synthesise macromolecules. Here the authors show the conversion of (+)‐3‐ carene, a by‐product of the cellulose industry, into its ε‐lactams and then to polyamides with high‐performance thermal properties.

    • Paul N. Stockmann
    • , Daniel Van Opdenbosch
    •  & Volker Sieber

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The folding-dependent catalytic behavior of enzymes is of fundamental biological importance, yet mechanistically underexplored. Here, the authors show that an α-helix, commonly found in proteins, can facilitate its own growth through the self-catalyzed polymerization of N-carboxyanhydride in solvents with low polarity.

    • Ziyuan Song
    • , Hailin Fu
    •  & Jianjun Cheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The intrinsic inhomogeneity of polymer networks is masked by the usual ensemble-averaged measurements. Here the authors construct direct maps of crosslinks in an actin network by selective labeling the crosslinks with fluorescent markers and characterize the local elasticity and cross-correlation between crosslinks.

    • Lingxiang Jiang
    • , Qingqiao Xie
    •  & Steve Granick

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ring-opening polymerizations of α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides to form polypeptides are usually sensitive to moisture, slow and can undergo side reactions. Here the authors use lithium hexamethyldisilazide to initiate α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydride polymerizations that is very fast and can be conducted in an open vessel.

    • Yueming Wu
    • , Danfeng Zhang
    •  & Runhui Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fermentative production of aromatic polyesters from glucose has been unsuccessful. Here, the authors achieve the objective by one-step fermentation of metabolically engineered E. coli expressing a isocaprenoyl-CoA:2-hydroxyisocaproate CoA-transferase and an evolved polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase.

    • Jung Eun Yang
    • , Si Jae Park
    •  & Sang Yup Lee

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Ice crystal growth is a major problem in cell and tissue cryopreservation for transplantation, transfusion, icing of aircraft wings and many other applications. Here the authors review the emerging field of synthetic macromolecular mimics of antifreeze proteins that can be used overcome such problems.

    • Caroline I. Biggs
    • , Trisha L. Bailey
    •  & Matthew I. Gibson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The intracellular topology of a nanostructure plays a major role in its interactions with the cell and accordingly, its biological applications. Here, the authors design peptides that intracellularly polymerize into elastin-like polypeptides and assemble into various topologies, each of which exhibits a distinct set of biological functions.

    • Li-Li Li
    • , Sheng-Lin Qiao
    •  & Hao Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Velvet worms expel a fluid slime that, under shear force, forms stiff fibres that can be dissolved and then regenerated. Here, the authors reveal that the recyclability of these biopolymers relies on mechanoresponsive lipid-protein nanoglobules in the slime that reversibly self-assemble into fibrils.

    • Alexander Baer
    • , Stephan Schmidt
    •  & Matthew J. Harrington

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mussels attach to rocks using a byssus, which possesses unique properties of adhesion, toughness and self-healing. Here, the authors explore the fabrication process of mussel byssus demonstrating the self-assembly of specific proteins into multi-scale organized structures using artificially induced byssus threads.

    • Tobias Priemel
    • , Elena Degtyar
    •  & Matthew J. Harrington

  • Article
    | Open Access

    With growing concerns over the sustainability of petroleum-based polymers, poly(limonene carbonate) is offered as a renewable alternative. Here, Greiner and co-workers have managed to tune the properties of poly(limonene carbonate) by carrying out several different chemical modifications.

    • O. Hauenstein
    • , S. Agarwal
    •  & A. Greiner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is a need for small-scale reactors that convert methane emissions to more valuable products to reduce climate impacts. Here, the authors show that printing 3D structures of the pMMO enzyme enables continuous methane conversion under ambient conditions and reduces mass transfer limitations.

    • Craig D. Blanchette
    • , Jennifer M. Knipe
    •  & Sarah E. Baker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sucker ring teeth from squid and cuttlefish represent rare examples of thermoplastic biopolymers. Here, the authors demonstrate how these materials may be processed for implementation in biomedical and 3D printing applications.

    • Victoria Latza
    • , Paul A. Guerette
    •  & Admir Masic

  • Review Article |

    Quantum-mechanical tunnelling currents across nanometre-scale gaps between electrodes are sensitive to the medium in the gap. Albrecht reviews progress towards using tunnelling currents to probe single-molecule processes, and in biosensor and sequencing applications.

    • T. Albrecht

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